


Shemot

by dafna



Category: Glee
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-18
Updated: 2011-03-18
Packaged: 2017-10-17 02:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dafna/pseuds/dafna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel Berry prepares for her bat mitzvah.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shemot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gblvr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gblvr/gifts).



Rachel Berry was 9 when she discovered that no one applauded you at your bat mitzvah. She threatened to quit Hebrew school the next day.

"It's not fair," she said, arms folded and glaring up at her fathers. "I thought the whole point of a bar mitzvah was that it was _your_ day, that _you_ were the star."

One of her fathers rolled his eyes. The other cleared his throat, and said, "Sweetie, what if we were to build a stage in the basement, so at your after-party, you could ---" Rachel flung herself at him, cutting himself off. Over her head, he shrugged apologetically at his partner.

Rachel looked up, beaming. "You are the best dads, EVER."

****

When Rachel was 11, she began studying trope on her own. By this time she had been to enough bar and bat mitzvahs to know that most kids just memorized the whole thing off an MP3 of some old guy singing. That simply would not do in her case.

"Don't you have choir practice?" Rachel was dimly aware that her dad was standing at the doorway to her room, but she didn't turn away from her computer. Hmmm, maybe she should learn Yemenite ...

"Rachel!"

She turned around in her chair and looked at him expectantly.

"Choir?"

"Oh, right," Rachel said. "I thought I told you. Mrs. Kaplow said I don't have to keep coming to KlezKidz rehearsals because she's just going to give me the solo, anyway."

(What Mrs. Kaplow had actually said was that she'd like to see Rachel not pay any attention at all and then try and do the solo, but sarcasm was unfortunately wasted on an 11-year-old Rachel Berry.)

****

When Rachel was 12, she went through 3 bat mitzvah tutors in two weeks before the rabbi finally agreed to supervise her himself.

Unlike the tutors, he had met Rachel before and so was completely unsurprised when she informed him she could already leyn the entire parshah and just wanted his help with pronunciation.

"Right. Now about your speech," he started to say.

"Oh, I've totally got an outline for that already," Rachel reassured him. "It's all about how Moses was found in the Nile by the princess, just like I was adopted by my dads."

The rabbi nodded. "Good, I can see how ..."

"And then like Moses was wandering around in a distant land where nobody recognized his potential to be a star, just like I'm stuck in Ohio but eventually I'm going to be recognized and move to New York just like him. I mean, he was in Cairo or wherever, but same thing."

The rabbi blinked. "So, your speech is about how much you're like Moses?"

Rachel beamed at him. "Exactly! Except you know, I have a much better speaking voice, so it's more like Moses and Aaron combined. Oh, and Miriam, since she sings."

The rabbi stared at her.

"Oh, don't worry," Rachel said. "I wasn't planning on mentioning Miriam. I know that's not this parshah."

**Author's Note:**

> Image is by Laura Bolter, used without permission. Her Etsy shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lbolter


End file.
